IF THE dice had rolled slightly differently Richard Osman could have been a policeman or a spy - but instead he has hosted one of the most unassumingly successful quiz shows of the last ten years and become a best-selling author.
When he was growing up in Cuckfield, in West Sussex, it was becoming a policeman that most appealed to Richard. His father had left the family home when Richard was nine, leaving mum Brenda to bring up two boys on her own (Richard’s brother Matt, later of the band Suede, was three years older than him).
Brenda’s father, who had been a policeman, was an important influence on Richard. “Policing was in my DNA, and I have always loved crime novels. If I hadn’t gone into television I would love to have been a police officer,” he once said
His grandfather, “a working-class kid born on the streets of Brighton” was a firm believer in the power of education, something that left a lasting impression on Richard. He says one of his proudest moments was inviting his grandfather to his graduation. “So much of what I am I owe to him,” he said during his Who Do You Think You Are? documentary.
Bringing up two boys was a challenge for Brenda, even with the help of her parents, and money was often tight. And with the nearest town being dull, uninspiring Haywards Heath (I know, I worked there for two
